Neuropsychological and Employment Implications: A Case Study of

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Neuropsychological and Employment Implications: A Case Study of

Whiting’s Patient

Introduction:

In 2005, the case study patient was involved in an automobile

accident, where he sustained a head injury (Whiting, 2005).

During a routine CT scan to check for possible brain damage, his

physicians discovered an abnormal growth within his third (3rd)

ventricle, in the approximate region of the frontal lobe. The

physicians later determined that the growth was a colloid cyst,

which is a collection of gelatinous material. On the advice of

his physicians, the patient underwent neurosurgery to have the

cyst removed, and recovered without any serious side effects.

The diagnostics, treatment, and follow-up care associated with

brain surgery are not performed in a vacuum; rather, the

appropriate level of pre-operative and post-operative care

relies on the deliberate cooperation of various parties. These

parties include the neurologist, the neurosurgeon, the

psychological and psychiatric professionals, the patient’s

spouse, his or her employer, and the patient her or himself. The

intent of this paper is to examine the roles of the

neuropsychologist and the patient’s employers in the successful

treatment, using the case study of the patient as a vehicle to

conduct this analysis. This paper will begin with a brief

overview of the frontal cortex and the 3rd ventricle, followed by

the viewpoints of the neuropsychologist and the patient’s

employer.

The Frontal Cortex: A Brief Overview

The brain’s outermost covering, the cerebral cortex, is

partitioned into four lobes: the occipital lobe, the parietal

lobe, the temporal lobe, and the frontal lobe. Although these

lobes, as well as the rest of the brain, mutually innervate each

other, each particular lobe is associated with different aspects

of behavior and information processing (Drubach, 2000). The

occipital cortex contains much of the neurons used in the

processing of visual images, the temporal lobe processes many

components used in the understanding of language, and the

parietal lobe contains the primary somatosensory cortex, the

cortical structure involved in the processing of touch

sensations and muscle and joint data. (Kalat, 2001)

Of interest to us is the frontal lobe. It extends from the

central sulcus (a deep cortical groove extending along the

coronal plane to both hemispheres of the brain) to the anterior

limits of the brain. The two main divisions of the frontal lobe

are the primary motor cortex and the pre-frontal cortex. The

latter structure, the primary motor cortex, is responsible for

the coordination of fine motor movements throughout different

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